Court reveals disturbing messages murder suspect sent 13-year-old girl before she went missing
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A man accused of the murder of a 13-year-old girl has had his 'disgusting' text messages to her revealed in court last week.
On January 9, 2024, Na’Ziyah Harris was last seen getting off a school bus in Morningside, a neighborhood in the east side of Detroit, Michigan.
The middle schooler has not been seen since and is presumed dead, with her body not yet being located.
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More than nine months later, Jarvis Butts was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and child sexually abusive activity.
His preliminary hearing to conclude whether the case should go to trial began on January 6, 2025, to Thursday (January 9), with various witnesses testifying to the court, ClickonDetroit reports.
The 42-year-old is accused of having an intimate relationship with Na’Ziyah, with authorities believing he'd been sexually abusing Na'Ziyah since 2022.
The text messages between the pair were read out aloud in court by Sergeant Shannon Jones, who is in charge of the case surrounding the 13-year-old's disappearance.
Exchanges between them began on September 27, 2022, but the messages interchanged suggest they had been talking for a while beforehand.
The messages on September 27, 2022, showed Butts asking her where they were 'doing it' before concluding the exchange with 'And make sure you erase the messages', to which the teenager replied: "K that is what I planned to do."
Other text messages show Butts texting the 13-year-old 'I stole your panties' and then later on June 27, 2023, the accused messaged 'Are you naked yet', to which Na’Ziyah replied: "No I don’t wanna get naked."
On September 26, 2023, Na’Ziyah told Butts that she believed that she might be pregnant.
On November 27, 2023, Na’Ziyah sent a series of text messages to Butts, with one reading: "I don’t what your problem but I need you to bring me what I need tonight it’s hard doing all this gym s*** with this baby and if I don’t do em I’m gonna get a F."
According to ClickOnDetroit, further text records show that Butts was searching for abortion pills and drinking red anti-freeze online.
Then the final message came on the day of Na’Ziyah's disappearance.
On January 9, 2024, she text him: "Don’t forget be there before 3 I will let you know when I’m leaving the school if you not there I will wait.
"Send OK if you see the message so I can delete your number."
To which Butts replied: "OK."
Following the preliminary hearing, Judge Aliyah Sabree decided that Butts will stand trial for Na'Ziyah's murder, telling him (via CBS News): "You're the monster in this whole picture."
She also called the text messages 'disgusting', adding: "Na’Ziyah deserved so much more."
He has also been charged with the sexual abuse of two other girls in separate cases. His murder trial is scheduled for today (January 16).
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Joe Yates